Live Game Blog – South Korea Prelim

This humble blogger must head off to fulfill media duties. Team USA ahead 5-0 with 35 seconds left. Hope you enjoyed the blogging! Check back for photos, a full recap and more at USAHockey.com!

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GOAL!!!!! Taylor Chace’s second! USA 5-0. 4×4 goal.

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PENALTY: Korea’s yong-Min Lee sent off for roughing. Too bad… he nearly had a goal in the crease. But the referee determined he had worked himself to that wide open position in an illegal fashion.

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Two minutes left in regulation!

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PENALTY: Nikko Landeros is going off for holding for Team USA.

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DESCRIPTION: A South Korea turnover turns into a goal for Team USA, as Lipsett found the puck on his stick in the low slot and slipped a shot past Choi for an unassisted goal.

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GOAL!!!! Lipsett! USA 4-0

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Team USA is being forced into a zone-play game here in the third… wait… nevermind…

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Great chance for Brad Emmerson and Adam Page in front of the net, but they can’t jam it past Choi.

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Nine minutes left in this one…

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PENALTY OVER

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Nikko Landeros nearly gets caught pinching on the penalty kill… but a breakaway pass slid a bit too far for Korea.

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PENATLY: USA for too-many men again!

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PENALTY OVER. Korea opened up the offensive zone a bit and had a chance to set up pinching defensemen… but the passes just weren’t there.

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PENALTY: Team USA for too-many men. Kind of a tough call… it looked to me like the exiting player’s sled was half in the bench. But, if it’s a close call,  it’s still too close.

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For those of you interested, it looks like Team USA’s average shift length is about 75 seconds for forwards and 90 seconds for defensemen.

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Shots through two: USA 16, Korea 4.

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Do you think that “The Good Ol’ Hockey Game” plays on baby mobiles here in Canada? Everyone knows the words… and we’re not just talking the refrain. Of course, if you’re reading this, chances are you do too! (Guilty, here.)

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END OF PERIOD. USA 3-0.

DESCRIPTION: Beautiful post-to-post pass by Alexi Salamone to Lipsett. Choi appeared to have absolutely robbed Lipsett, but the puck barely trickled over the line for the power-play marker.

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GOAL!!! Taylor Lipsett! 3-0 USA

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Heard from Ray Maluta on the bench: “COME ON REF! THERE’S TWO TEAMS OUT THERE!” It worked… PENALTY: Korea’s Sang-Hyeon Park for holding.

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Two minutes left in the second…

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Good shot by Brad Emmerson, who created a turnover at the Korean blue line, skated in off the halfboard and tried to beat Choi high.

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PENALTY OVER

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Andy Yohe misses a wide open net from inside the right circle. Good set up by Alexi Salamone.

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PENALTY: Korea’s Byeong-Seok Cho is heading off for roughing.

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Now a couple of turnovers by Team USA in the neutral zone. Speed is helping them stave off odd-man rushes.

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Good pressure here… Team USA is hungry…

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DESCRIPTION: Off a faceoff win, Joe Howard pushed the puck to Salamone, who was driving hard to the net from the start. Salamone was wide open, and lifted a shot to where Grandma keeps the raspberry jam. Power-play goal.

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GOAL!! Alexi Salamone! USA 2-0

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Adam Page hits the pipe! He’s created several chances tonight but has not been able to squeeze one past Choi.

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PENALTY: Korea’s Min-Su Han is headed off for interference. 4×4 action.

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Nearly a HUGE, Kiprusoff-esque giveaway by Choi, as Bubba Torres had an empty net but could not collect the loose puck.

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PENALTY: Team USA’s Chace is going off for teeing.

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Team USA is playing very responsibly, leaving two defensemen back to guard against the home run pass.

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Game on!! (Game on!)

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Team USA was 11-of-14 from the faceoff dot that period.

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SWEET CAR-O-LINE….

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My “Player of the Period” award goes to Greg Shaw, who created several chances with his speed and did not show nerves in his first-ever Paralympic outing.

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END OF FIRST, 1-0 USA. Shots are 10-2 in favor of Team USA.

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Great little give-and-go play at the Korean blue line between Lipsett and Chace nearly pays dividends…

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PENALTY OVER

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U.S. goalie Steve Cash makes his first save of the night on a solid chance from the right dot.

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PENALTY: USA’s Salamone for charging. 3:59 left in the first.

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BIG save by Korea’s Hyuk-Jun Choi on Greg Shaw, who was on the back door and had a great deflection off a Lipsett feed.

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Ahhh, the t-shirt gun. You know you’re at a sporting event when…

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PENALTY OVER

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NO GOAL. Lipsett pushed the puck across the line using his glove. Still 1-0, USA.

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Goal is under review… Did Taylor use his glove to push the puck in?

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GOAL!! Taylor Lipset! 2-0 USA

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Howard back in the game and creating a pair of scoring chances.

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PENALTY: Korea’s Jong-Ho Jang for delay of game.

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DESCRIPTION: A broken play, Greg Shaw carried the puck into the Korea zone where it got tangled in a group of sleds. Chace located the puck in the high slot and fired a shot that bounced off the goalie’s blocker-side shoulder and trickled into the net. Chace (Landeros, Shaw), 3:47.

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GOAL! Taylor Chace! 1-0 USA

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PENALTY OVER

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Joe Howard and Sang-Hyeon Park in a BIG collision at center ice. Both players are being treated and are slow to get off the ice.

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First chance goes to Team USA, as Alexi Salamone fires one off the side of the cage shorthanded.

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PENALTY: Team USA just seven seconds in. Tim Jones for interference.

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Puck drop in 3…. 2…. 1….

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South Korea is FIRED UP. This is the country’s first ever Paralympic Winter Games sled hockey tournament appearance.

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Black Eyed Peas on the speakers. Refs on the ice. Road to the Gold starts in three minutes!

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Nine minutes to puck drop. I wanted to give props to VANOC for the spirit it has infused into games not involving Canada. The arena is handing out flags of both participating teams and has hired teams to “pump up” the crowd throughout the game. The atmosphere for Norway/Sweden was fantastic, and the roars were legitimate for quality scoring chances, hits, etc. Something tells me there will be a rooting bias from the fans at this game, however………

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There is a massive group of school children at one end of the rink cheering for South Korea. Vancouver has a very large Asian community, as was showcased during the Paralympic Opening Ceremony at which China, Japan and South Korea’s athletes all received big cheers. Tomorrow’s Japan vs. South Korea showdown will be intense on multiple levels.

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Team USA wearing its blues this afternoon. A brief note about other scores so far this tournament. Italy hung tough with Canada for two periods before falling, 4-0. Italy employed a strategy we will undoubtedly see tonight, where victories were measured in advancing the puck to the red line for dump-ins and keeping scoring chances to a minimum. Meanwhile, Sweden gave Norway a scare before bowing in a shootout, 2-1. Sweden’s ice times illustrate the lack of depth among the lower-seeded teams at this tournament: it had three players who, through three periods (45 minutes of action) had logged over 40 minutes.

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Welcome to our first Paralympic Winter Games gameday blog! Team USA is about to take the ice. If crowds mimic the first two games, the UBC Thunderbird Arena should be jumping come puck drop.

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Check back here 10 minutes before puck drop (5 p.m. PST) for the start of our U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team live game blog. You will find goal and highlight descriptions here, along with pertinent links and info. The most recent posts will appear at the top, so scroll down if you miss any action.

See you then!